


Collide

by river_soul



Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-30
Updated: 2014-05-30
Packaged: 2018-01-27 02:43:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 861
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1712027
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/river_soul/pseuds/river_soul
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“If you wanted to I could show you,” she offers and he watches the sun as it rises behind her, the way the yellow glass ignites a halo of light around her body.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Collide

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to ubiquitous_girl for the beta help!

When he stumbles upon her it’s an accident, unexpected.

She doesn’t sense him at first and he watches her, knowing he shouldn’t. There is something intimate about the way she moves, the way Atlantis speaks to her body. Her breath is light and short as she shifts fluidly through the positions, body glimmering with a thin sheen of sweat. He can smell her now and his nostrils flare with a scent so distinctly feminine, unguarded by the perfumes others drown themselves in.

When she turns her eyes are closed, face upturned, lips parted. Her features are pale and exposed and he notices for the first time a smattering of freckles across her nose. Her face is bare of make up, eyes no longer darkened by colorful shadows. It makes her softer, more pliant. Her expression is unguarded, natural and he knows he shouldn’t be here.

He waits another minute, until her back is turned and she guides her left leg up behind her, lets the arch of her foot rests gently on the crown of her head. She breathes heavily and her shoulders sag as she releases her hold moments later. Her eyes open then and he feels foolish to be caught staring. She blinks in surprise and he can see a conscious shift in her posture and body language.

“Ronon?” she asks and he doesn’t respond. She knows him to be a man of little words. “What-I, can I help you?” she finally settles on and he can see the tension in her shoulders that had been absent before.

It is his doing.

Guilt is foreign to him.

“I was walking. Don’t sleep well.” He tells her and is surprised by the truth of his words.

“Oh,” she says and he is still looking at her curiously, the mat in her hand. “It’s called Yoga,” she starts. “It’s-” she pauses and he can see her thinking of some way to relate it to him, to make him understand without patronizing him like the others do. She’s good at that. “It’s like your training exercise with Teyla. A physical release of stress and tension but also mediation. To clear your mind and prepare you for the day.”

“I understand. We had something like that before-,” he stops and her face softens in understanding. “I wasn’t patient enough for it.” He finishes.

“If you wanted to I could show you,” she offers and he watches the sun as it rises behind her, the way the yellow glass ignites a halo of light around her body.

He blinks.

“Ok,” he says and watches her try to hide her surprise.

“Alright,” she agrees, “But I have to go now though, I have, you know” she finishes with a wave of her hand and he finds her trepidation with him amusing in light of those she has gone up against in the past. There have been far worse than him and he has seen her fierce and proud before. He does not understand her hesitation, her fear around him. It makes him uncomfortable.

He does not know why.

\--

Ronon learns that she starts early, while Atlantis still slumbers and the water is dark. Her limbs are slim and pale. They would be useless in a fight, her bones easy to snap and skin ready to bruise but here they are graceful and efficient and he finds it is his own body, quivering with energy that is useless. He is not as limber as she is and when he is bent over at the waist _the downward dog_ she says, he can feel the burning in his calf muscles and an ache low in his back. She bends with ease, palms laying flat on the cool floor while he struggles to keep his fingertips in contact with his mat.

He catches her once, in the beginning, watching him with a bemused expression from beneath the mass of his hair. He tries to smile and breathe but the muscles in his diaphragm contract wildly and when he pitches forward he thinks his humiliation is almost worth it to hear her laughter, clear as a bell, ring out in the little room before she moves to help him.

\--

They do not talk about it outside the room on the west pier. The rhythm of the city does not change, life moves on as it had before. She remains tall and unyielding behind a pane of glass and watches them leave through the gate. She greets them when they return and her gaze does not linger on him. Sometimes they do not even speak but he stands closer to her then he should.

\--

She is pale and sweaty in his arms, trembling with effort and desire but he can feel the sinewy muscles of her forearms flex against his chest. “Ronon,” she breathes and it’s permission and uncertainty. The kiss is soft and smooth, calm like the dark rippling sea below them. She tastes of sweat and salt and his skin burns. He is careful and gentle in ways he has not known before. Patience is rewarded and as she unfurls beneath him, stronger then he would have imagined. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Also, new [tumblr](http://river-soul.tumblr.com/) friends are always welcome!


End file.
